USS Saury (SS-189), a Sargo-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the saury, a long-beaked relative of the flying fish found in the temperate zones of the Atlantic.
Construction and commissioning Saury′s keel was laid down on 28 June 1937 by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 20 August 1938, sponsored by Mrs. Mary E. Casbarian, wife of James Paul Casbarian, who headed the U.S. Navy's Ships' Names and Sponsors Office, and commissioned on 3 April 1939.
Pre-World War II service
Following commissioning, Saury conducted tests in the New London, Connecticut, area and as far south as Annapolis, Maryland, before visiting New York City in late April 1939 for the 1939 New York World's Fair. In mid-May 1939, she conducted tests with experimental periscopes, then prepared for her shakedown cruise which, between 26 June and 26 August, took her from Newfoundland to Venezuela and the Panama Canal Zone and back to southern New England. In September, she entered the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, for post-shakedown overhaul.
After overhaul and final trials, Saury got underway on 4 December for the West Coast. On 12 December, she transited the Panama Canal and, nine days later, joined Submarine Division (SubDiv) 16 of Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 6, at San Diego, California. Upkeep, exercises, and services as a target for surface units took her through March 1940. In April, she sailed west to participate in Fleet Problem XXI, an eight-phased problem simulating an attack on the defense of the Hawaiian area and the destruction of one fleet prior to the concentration of another.
Based afterward at Pearl Harbor, Saury conducted exercises in the Hawaiian Islands and as far west as Midway Island until she returned to the West Coast in September for overhaul at Mare Island. From March to October 1941, she operated out of both Pearl Harbor and San Diego, California, then departed the former for her new base, Cavite, Philippines.
First war patrol
Assigned to SubDiv 21, SubRon 2, after 1 June 1941, Saury arrived in Manila Bay in mid-November. On 8 December (7 December east of the International Date Line), she got underway for her first war patrol.
Clearing Manila Bay, Saury moved north to search for and intercept ships of the Japanese invasion force. Lack of emergency identification systems and radio problems complicated her job. During the next two weeks, she patrolled near Vigan and along a north–south line at longitude 120 degrees East. Then, on 21 December, she was ordered into Lingayen Gulf in response to a report from submarine of Japanese forces there.
Prior to dawn on 22 December, she took up patrol duties off San Fernando in the northern approaches to the gulf, and moved south. At 0411, she sighted an enemy destroyer and, at 04:24, she fired. Although the "fish" headed "right at" the destroyer, there was no explosion. At 04:26, a second destroyer appeared; and, the hunter became the hunted. Saury commenced evasive tactics in the relatively shallow waters of the gulf. Depth charges were dropped, but none within of the submarine. Saury continued on evasive courses, working her way to the northwest and out of the destroyer-patrolled area. By noon, she was clear. After dark, she moved back into the gulf, past the enemy patrol line between San Fernando and Cape Bolinao.
At about 02:10 on 23 December, an enemy destroyer sighted Saury. The submarine went to . By 02:16, three depth charges had exploded within . Two more depth charges followed, but Saury escaped and continued to hunt for targets. Early afternoon brought more depth charging, but Saury was not damaged. On 24 December, she sighted a transport, running fast and very close in shore. The submarine was unable to close and attack.
That evening brought a change in orders; and, in preparing to clear the area, Saury found herself between two enemy ships. She headed out "playing tag with enemy destroyers all night". The next evening, she was again closed by an enemy destroyer. She went to and evaded the enemy's depth charges. On the night of 27–28 December, she interrupted battery charging to avoid a division of enemy destroyers. On 1 January 1942, she sighted an enemy convoy, but was unable to close the range. On 8 January, she received orders to proceed to the Netherlands East Indies.
Moving south, Saury patrolled the Basilan Strait area on 11 and 12 January. By then, Tarakan had fallen and the submarine headed south to patrol the enemy's Davao-Tarakan line. By 16 January, she was east of the Tarakan lightship; and, on 18 January, she crossed the equator into the southern latitudes.
On 19 January, the Japanese landed at Sandakan in North Borneo, and Saury arrived at Balikpapan to fuel and provision. The next day, the submarine departed, fueled but not provisioned. After patrolling toward Cape William, Sulawesi (Celebes), she took up station in the approaches to Balikpapan.
Second war patrol
On 23 January 1942, as other Allied units moved into Makassar Strait to delay the Japanese, Saury shifted north to the Koetai River Delta (Mahakam) in hopes of impeding enemy shipping moving south to Balikpapan. On the morning of 24 January, she was illuminated, forced to go deep, and was unable to attack.
After the Japanese took Balikpapan, Saury was ordered to patrol off Cape William. On 27 January, she moved toward Java. On 30 January, she met a Dutch patrol vessel off Meinderts Reef, then proceeded through Madura Strait to Surabaya (Soerabaja).
On 9 February, as the Japanese were taking Makassar, Saury departed Surabaya for her second war patrol. The submarine headed east to patrol along the north coasts of the Lesser Soendas. On 13 February, she headed north-northwest for a three-day patrol between Kabaena and Salajar off the Sulawesi coast. From there, she moved southwest to patrol the entrance to Lombok Strait. On the night of 19 and 20 February, she received word of the Japanese landing on Bali; sighted her first enemy ships of the patrol; and commenced 18 hours of submerged evasive tactics to avoid enemy destroyers' depth charges. On 24 February, she shifted northward to an area southeast of Sepandjang Island where she sighted and attacked, unsuccessfully, an enemy convoy.
From 26 February to 8 March, Saury patrolled from Meinderts Reef to Kangean Island, the eastern entrance to Madura Strait. However, the Japanese moved on Surabaya from the north and west. Batavia and Surabaya fell. On 9 March, Saury began making her way to Australia. The submarine arrived at Fremantle on 17 March. Her torpedoes, Mark 14s, had not damaged the enemy.
Third war patrol
On 28 April 1942, Saury cleared Fremantle for her third war patrol, but, three days later, a crack in the after trim tank caused her to return to Australia. On 7 May, she again departed Fremantle and headed north. By 14 May, she was off Timor; and, by 16 May, she was in the Flores Sea, en route to the Banda Sea and the eastern Sulawesi (Celebes) coast. On 18 May, off Wowoni, she fired three torpedoes at an enemy cargo-passenger ship without effect. She remained in the area for two days to intercept enemy traffic to Kendari; then moved north to hunt in Greyhound Strait and the Molucca Passage. On 23 and 24 May, she was off Kema, whence she rounded North Cape to patrol off Manado on the tip of northern Sulawesi.
On 26 May, Saury commenced hunting in the eastern Celebes Sea. On 28 May, she sighted and fired on a merchantman which had been converted into a seaplane carrier, but again was unsuccessful.
On 8 June, the submarine turned south and began retracing her route through the Molucca Passage and Greyhound Strait. From 12 to 14 June, she again patrolled off Kendari. On 15 June, she searched Boeton Passage; then moved into the Flores Sea, whence she headed via Timor for Australia. Saury returned to Fremantle on 28 June.
On 2 July, she sailed for Albany, where tests were to be conducted on the Mark 14 torpedoes. On 18 July, Saury launched four torpedoes at a net 850 to away. They were set for ten feet. The first passed through an area from which the net had been torn during the night. The other three penetrated the net at .
From 23 to 25 July, Saury escorted submarine tender back to Fremantle, then prepared for her fourth war patrol, which would take her back to the Philippines.
Fourth war patrol
Sailing at the end of the month, Saury transited Lombok Strait on 6 August 1942 and, by 16 August, was running up the Iloilo-Manila sea lane. On 17 August, she investigated Ambulong Strait and Mangarin Bay. On 18 August, she moved up the Mindoro Coast to Cape Calavite, whence she took up station west of Corregidor.
On 20 August, the submarine moved into the presumed enemy convoy route. The next day, she sighted and attempted to close a tanker; then shifted her patrol to a line off the coast.
On 24 August, the submarine again closed Manila Bay. At 06:45, she sighted masts; but heavy rain soon moved in and obscured the target. At 09:52, she launched two torpedoes. Her periscope began vibrating, hindering visibility and precluding the firing of two more torpedoes. At 09:54, an explosion was heard and the target, a small tanker, was seen to take on a five-degree list to port. Saury proceeded to to avoid detection by enemy air patrol units. At about 10:47, a bomb exploded close by the submarine. Depth charges followed and, at 11:50 and 11:52, two more bombs exploded.
The hunt for the submarine continued through the afternoon. At 18:10, the sounds of propellers and pinging died out. At 19:21, Saury surfaced, started recharging and headed out to sea on her three available engines. An hour later, she was sighted by an enemy destroyer, which closed in fast. Saury submerged, and her elusive tactics were again successful.
The next night, she sighted another enemy warship, a destroyer or a torpedo boat. The submarine, badly in need of a charge, did not attack. 29 August brought extremely poor weather. On 31 August, she sighted a hospital ship. On 3 September, the day she headed south, the weather began to clear.
On 7 September, Saury received orders to patrol off Makassar City and, while surfaced on the night of 11 September, she sighted a cargoman. At 20:58, she sent three torpedoes at the target. At 21:00, an explosion rocked the target. Flames enveloped the center of the ship. Its superstructure and deck cargo blazed. Eighteen minutes later, the target blew up. Japanese records identified the victim as the 8,606-ton aircraft ferry, Kanto Maru.
On 17 September, Saury cleared Lombok Strait and headed for Exmouth Gulf where she delivered excess fuel to a barge; thence continued on to Fremantle, arriving on 23 September.
Fifth and sixth war patrols
From 24 September to 18 October 1942, she underwent upkeep and repairs. She then shifted to Brisbane, whence she departed on 31 October for her fifth war patrol. Her 27-day patrol was conducted off western and northern New Britain, where she had 27 contacts, was able to develop four, and fired 13 torpedoes, of which only one was a possible hit.
On 21 December, Saury arrived at Pearl Harbor and, on 29 December, she moored at Mare Island. During her ensuing overhaul, she received a bathythermograph and a high periscope.
Saury returned to Pearl Harbor on 16 April 1943 and, on 7 May, she departed for her sixth war patrol which would take her into the East China Sea to operate off the northern Ryukyu Islands and in the coastal waters of Kyūshū. During the patrol, she would also test the effectiveness of the high periscope in daytime attacks and the usefulness of the bathythermograph in locating thermal layers in which to hide.